Liver and Rumen Fluke

Things to do now

Steps you should be taking now to protect your herd

Beef

Monitor liver and rumen fluke by faecal egg counting before turnout. If necessary, treat with an appropriate product to kill adult fluke. Speak to your vet or animal health advisor about which product to use

If possible, turn out first grazing season cattle, such as dairy x beef calves and autumn-born weaned suckled calves, onto low risk pasture, eg not grazed by cattle last year. If using pasture grazed by youngstock last year, implement a control plan to protect against gut worms

Spring-born suckler calves that are still suckling are not likely to need any treatment for worms. Any larvae on the pasture will be consumed by their mothers which will be mostly immune

Dairy

Monitor liver and rumen fluke by faecal egg counting before turnout. If necessary, treat with an appropriate product to kill adult fluke. Speak to your vet or animal health advisor about which product to use

If possible, turn out first grazing season calves such as replacement heifers, onto low risk pastures, eg pastures not grazed by cattle last year. If using pasture grazed by youngstock last year, implement a control plan to protect against gut worms

Resources

The latest

Liver fluke infection in cattle

Liver fluke (Fasciola hepatica) is a leaf-shaped parasite which lives in the liver and bile ducts of infected cattle. Sheep, rabbits, deer and horses can also host the parasite.

The liver fluke life cycle involves a free-living stage which depends on the presence of an intermediate host, a mud snail. The seasonal nature of liver fluke infection results from infective larvae being shed by snails onto pasture primarily during late summer and early autumn. Cattle grazing over the autumn are at risk of ingesting larvae over a prolonged period and developing chronic disease which becomes evident in late winter and early spring.

With the effects of infection on growth rate and milk yield estimated to cost the UK cattle industry up to £40.4 million annually, effective and sustainable parasite control within herds is essential. A multidisciplined approach involving strategic flukicide product choice to reduce pasture contamination and drug resistance, alongside pasture management to restrict cattle access to snail habitats and quarantine of new stock with unknown infection status is recommended.